Re: To
go "get the stink blown off us"

: : My husband enountered this phrase in a short story recently
and also recalls that his father, a 75-year-old retired farmer, used to use it
forty years ago. What it means is, "We've been indoors too long; let's go outside."
It suggests that a disagreeable odor collects around individuals who remain housebound
for too long. I wonder if there's any connection to the phrase, "Let's blow this
joint," i.e. leave this place.

: Without knowing the history of these phrases,
I'd say probably not. In the first one, the blowing agent is wind; in the second,
it's the people who leave--they blow out the door like a storm.

"Get the stink
blown off us." Interesting phrase and environmentally sound. Indoor air is way
more polluted than outdoor air. Today tightly sealed houses keep fresh air out
and keep in chemicals (like "outgassing" from wood paneling, etc.), animal dander,
dust mites, etc. In the old days houses were draftier and fewer synthetic products
were used. But most people didn't have central heat and indoor plumbing. There
was plenty of pollution from woodstoves and it was difficult to stay dewy fresh
without hot water on tap.

I think the phrase is more closely related to "cabin
fever" than "Let's blow this place."